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My Least Favorite Fabric– Red Velvet Cupcakes

Something that those close to me know is that my least favorite fabric is velvet. I have always hated it, every since it was on the door of the inside of my grandma’s car. My friends take pride in throwing velvet at me…probably because they enjoying making me panic or something. Well apparently my least favorite fabric is one of the most popular cupcakes. Who would’ve thought?

WEEK 12- RED VELVET CUPCAKES

I have officially made a dozen weeks of cupcakes. Whoo. Summer seems to be flying by, especially when counted in cupcakes. The first thing, again, was to mix the dry ingredients. I took a picture because there was cocoa in it this time, so it wasn’t as boring.

Butter and sugar were mixed in a bowl.

And then came the fun part. Vanilla! Well, I do love vanilla, I love food coloring even more. :)

And then it was red! Win!

Next I had to get my buttermilk poured so I could switch off adding it in with the flour mixture. (This is the part of the post where I tell my random story :D). Pouring the buttermilk reminded me of work last summer. I worked in a small bakery/restaurant in town and we had a breakfast rush. My coworker at the time was waiting on a regular, and brought him out a cup of buttermilk instead of milk. He was a nice old man and just laughed it off. When we got to the back kitchen, we both felt so bad (he had called me over to tell me and I was the one who brought the actual milk to him). We decided to each grab a straw and try it, because we were curious as to what this guy took a giant drink of. I can tell you from my first hand experience, don’t drink buttermilk. Writing this, I can imagine the taste in my mouth and I think I need some water…

Once I finished reliving my bad experience with buttermilk, it was time to mix it in, along with my four/cocoa mixture.

Finally the batter was complete. When I added the cocoa, the red kind of dulled a lot. I probably should’ve put more in. I didn’t follow the recipe recommendation and just put in until I got the color I liked. Yeah, I probably should’ve factored in the cocoa. Oh well.

Usually, I add baking powder to help make it rise. This time, it was vinegar and baking powder. It brought me back to the days of the volcanoes in elementary science classes. And yes, it did start to bubble when I first but them together. And yes, I did squeal like a small child.

Scooping time! I used some cute heart wrappers I found in our cupboard. I guess, you could say they are Valentine’s wrappers because of the hearts, but I was also taking these to Relay for Life (more on that later) so I figured the hearts worked. And a conversation that happened between 2 of my team members at Relay went as follows:

K- “You used Valentine’s wrappers”

Sarah- “No, they are heart wrappers”

K- “But hearts equal Valentine’s”

M- “No, hearts are love, which is what they are made of!”

(And then we all did cheesy smiles at each other)

Sarah- “Exactly!”

And into the oven they went.

While they were in the oven, I started the frosting. It was a marshmallow crème frosting. Most red velvet cupcakes have cream cheese frosting but I was sold on these cupcakes when I saw the word marshmallow crème. Plus, it just involved three ingredients. Easy enough. Here are the first two:

The frosting turned out lovely. It was the perfect consistency. And it was like death. Seriously, we passed the mixer around and everyone almost died. A good and happy death of course. A death full of sugar.

By then, my friends had arrived to take me to Relay. And I was just getting the cupcakes out of the oven. So one of them did my dishes. :)

Frosting time! The photographer was clearly feeling artsy here…

I must say, usually this is where I’m all taste time! But I didn’t taste until the next day…well I mean, I didn’t take a picture of my taste until the next day. I was seriously running out the door to get to Relay. This is the second year I’ve been involved in Relay and it’s such a great cause. If you have never experienced one, I recommend you go to one. Also relating to cancer awareness, if you’ve noticed on the side of my page, I have a “Frosting for the Cause” button. On October 23, I will be making some cupcakes and donating them and also money. I will also be sharing a personal story of how cancer has affected my life. If you have time, take a look at that website (just click the button), because it’s an excellent cause. Continuing on with my red velvet cupcakes…

They were good. Again, since I’m not a fan of chocolate and don’t really remember ever having a red velvet cupcake, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But they were tasty. They weren’t too chocolately, yet you could still taste it…if that makes any sense. :) Plus, that frosting…yum…seriously, I could eat that frosting with a spoon. Even though the velvet fabric bothers me, these cupcakes prove that something with the same name can be different. Don’t judge a book by its title people! :)

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting

Recipe from Betty Crocker’s Big Book of Cupcakes

Cupcakes

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup unsweetened baking cocoa

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup butter or margarine, softened

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 bottle (1 oz) red food color (about 2 tablespoons)

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon white vinegar

Frosting

1 jar (7 to 7.5 oz) marshmallow crème

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

Heat oven in 350°F. Place paper baking cups in each of 24 regular sized muffin cups. In small bowl, mix flour, cocoa, and salt; set aside.

In large bowl, beat ½ cup butter and the granulated sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until mixed. Add eggs; beat 1 to 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Stir in food color and vanilla. On low speed, alternately add flour mixture. 1/3 at a time, and buttermilk, ½ at a time, beating just until blended. Beat in baking soda and vinegar until well blended.

Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.

Bake 20 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pans to cooling racks.

Remove lid and foil seal from jar of marshmallow crème. Microwave uncovered on High 15 to 20 seconds to soften. In large bowl, beat marshmallow crème and 1 cup butter with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar until smooth.